Bibby sparks rally as Kings overcome Nets

Bibby scored all 10 points in a 10-2 run to close out the game
as the Kings downed the New Jersey Nets, 88-87, for only their
second victory in their last 10 games.

The Nets, who began a five-game road trip, had their season-high
four-game win streak snapped.

"We should never have been in that position," New Jersey's Jason
Kidd said. "We were up 20, but you have to give Sacramento a
lot of credit - they kept playing. We had the opportunity to
win. Anytime you're on the road you want the ball at the end.
Unfortunately, the tip didn't go in for us tonight."

The Kings, who shot only 35.5 percent from the floor in a 91-74
loss to the Detroit Pistons on Saturday, won despite shooting
37.2 percent (35-of-94) from the field.

"I thought our defense in the fourth quarter was the best 12
minutes of defense we've played all season long," Sacramento
coach Eric Musselman said. "(Francisco) Garcia did a great job,
not only defensively, but he helped us on the glass tonight."

"I thought it was a good win for us," Bibby said. "We
definitely came out fighting in the end. Everyone came together
and fought their way through it. I keep telling everyone that
if we play an entire game as we did in the fourth quarter, we'll
be a lot better off."

Bibby hit the winning basket with 10 seconds left from just
outside the foul line to give the Kings an 88-87 advantage. New
Jersey had a final opportunity to win but Kidd missed a
desperation layup as time expired.

"I really wasn't shooting very much because I was trying to get
everyone involved throughout the game," Bibby said. "I knew I
had to get the team going from the start, and then I knew I had
to start shooting a little more when it came down to the end."

The Kings embarked on the run in the final 3:18 to close the gap
before Bibby won it. Bibby started his 10-point spurt with a
3-pointer to slice New Jersey's lead to 85-81 and later
completed a three-point play with 1:43 left to pull the Kings
within 85-84.

Bibby finished with 16 points - 15 in the second half - and Ron
Artest scored 21 for Sacramento.

"We hung in there," Artest said. "We didn't play well the whole
game, but we just hung in there and did what it takes to win.
Hopefully things will start turning around now."

Mikki Moore, who only scored four points in the Nets' 101-94
triumph over the Orlando Magic on Saturday, led New Jersey with
a season-high 22 points and Kidd finished with 18.

"I'd rather score two points tonight and then have a 'W'," Moore
said. "We just slacked up down the stretch. We got a big lead
and we stopped playing the team basketball that we were
playing."

New Jersey's Vince Carter, who is averaging 25.0 points per
game, finished with only eight on 4-of-11 shooting from the
field.

The Nets played their first game without star forward Richard
Jefferson, who underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right ankle
Monday and will be out indefinitely.